this post was submitted on 27 Apr 2024
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(Posting this here rather than [email protected] as it's a quite general question)

I had a look at the GSM Arena phone finder, and it the choice is getting smaller and smaller every year (only 43 phones from 2023, reviewed by the site, had a jack)

The remaining ones are mostly

  • Xiaomi Redmi
  • Zenfones
  • Sony
  • Samsung entry range

So, has everyone switched to Bluetooth / USB-C dongles, or are there still a few people holding to the jack until the very end?

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 7 months ago

I'll die alone on this headphone jack hill if I need to, I only buy phones with headphone jacks.

Currently using a Motorola of some sort, replacement for another Motorola.

[–] [email protected] 29 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Only With the 3.5 mm audio jack. Bluetooth devices always have some delay, never are immune from connection problems or intermittent readback (especially if you have other devices you switch between), and don't last as long as they advertise. The delay thing is particularly irksome on the phone and watching videos. Much less important for music, but I'm not the kinda guy who plays music a lot. The battery thing is probably less of an issue these days, and could maybe be discarded, but I also forget to charge important devices, so that's a me thing and party of the reason.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Agree on most of your your points. Which phone do you use?

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago

The No-Longer-Supported LG G7 ThinQ. Not upgrading until it blows up in my pocket.

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[–] southsamurai 18 points 7 months ago (2 children)
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[–] [email protected] 17 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Likely sound like cranky old man but I'll be catching phones with a jack as long as I can! Not mad about having the option for wireless, but I'm a bit of a purist.

Plus once in a blue moon I'll DJ without Wi-Fi and use the phone to pull up a tune I don't have in my physical storage. Much harder to do that without 3.5mm jack.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

Still on a pretty old Galaxy 9, been putting off the upgrade forever. Not even sure what the cool kids are using these days. Need to hit that research phase a bit

[–] [email protected] 15 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I used to hate Bluetooth, but that's because the early versions were terrible. Painful to connect, frequent drops and disconnects, and very short range and easy to block the signal.

Since Bluetooth 4 it's been great, and rock solid with Bluetooth 5. The only time I've had a problem is when I went into the other room and stood directly in front of a running microwave. I lost about half the signal until I took a step back.

Wireless headphones are far more convenient. Phone in my pocket, and I can walk around, clean the house, or work out at the gym, completely untethered.

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[–] kugmo 13 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I had to give up removable batteries in phones but I will never give up 3.5 mm.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)
[–] kugmo 4 points 7 months ago (1 children)

Moto G7+, its old and wouldn't recommend seeking one out.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (2 children)

yes, audio jack is an important differentiator for me when I'm buying new phone

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (3 children)

No, I stopped using it once I got wireless headphones. I hated hearing the cord brushing against my clothes while moving.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

Yeah, once I made the switch to wireless earbuds, I didn't miss the jack at all. People have valid complaints about them, like the price and the limited battery, but I think the convenience is worth it.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I've given up on it. While I think it was silly to remove, I've come to find it just as silly to be so attached to a cable. Bluetooth and USBC headphones have worked just fine for me.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 7 months ago

I seek out phones with audio jacks. My current Moto G Power 2020 has one and I use it all the time. No dongles or adapters in the car or on various headphones. Plus I actually use the FM Radio built into the phone and that uses the wire for the headphones as an antenna. I just cut off some old earbuds and plug that in, then direct the audio to either the phone speaker itself or BT.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago

I'm fine with Bluetooth. My earbuds and speakers all have Bluetooth nowadays.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I just add a usbc to audio/charging dongle to them. Getting a phone with a audio jack I feel like is when I wanted to keep the hardware keyboard, I was just walking the boulder up the hill I just was like there was an easy off that mountain.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago (3 children)

For me the usb c to audio Jack adapters were a letdown. From the three I bought - all of them had a constant static noise. Especially hearable on lower noises. Don't know if it was just the adapters I got, or if it was just a quirk my phone had, but I'll stick with the dedicated usb jack for now.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

I had that only when they got damaged, but they easily get damaged

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago (4 children)

I'll only buy a phone with an audio jack and usbc port.

I think of my phone like a swiss army knife, it's a multi tool that I carry with me at all times and can be used for many different things. I like using wireless headphones and I usually connect via bluetooth but on the occasion that I need to plug a headset into my phone I am able to quickly and easily do that with no extra thought.

Why would I buy a new phone that has less features than my current phone?

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 7 months ago

I exclusively use phones with a 3.5mm jack. Currently on a Sony Xperia 1 IV. That said, I also use bluetooth IEMs sometimes and I like having the option of switching between wired/wireless when convenient.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago (2 children)

Wont buy a smartphone without it

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago (1 children)

I bought a Sony Xperia 10iii back in December 2022 for the headphone jack, SD card slot and IP rating. Plus it's Sony and one of my all time best phones was my Xperia Z2.

When it comes time to replace it I will first look to see which phone offers a jack. I use it several times a week.

However the downside is that the only premium phones with it are Sony but very expensive. I can't afford a 5v when though I'd love it.

If you get a midrange phone you always lose out on a great camera. Which is crappy. So you have to choose between headphone jack with poor cameras Vs no headphone jack with good cameras.

Or somehow get enough money together to buy an Xperia 5v.

Ps don't bother with ZenFone. Asus is known for poor quality and very, very bad support

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago) (2 children)

@Blaze I'm not buying phones that often, but I recently changed to a Nokia G22 (yes, they also have phones with jack), and one of the things that made me decide on that was the jack as well. I got a pair of wireless headsets from work and I can say they're pretty good, but I am still not over the thought that I have one more thing to charge its battery every once in a while. Wired headphones are pretty much okay and I don't see any problem with them that would make me switch (at least right now).

Edit: I almost forgot. I also listen to the (FM) Radio, so I need the wired headsets to be used as an antenna.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 7 months ago (3 children)

i avoid anything wireless like the plague short of wifi. pairing is always a miserable process, and by the time everything is connected, the batteries are dead. it drives me absolutely bonkers. thankfully many motorolla phones still have 3.5mm jacks . i think my current model is the motorolla 5g stylus

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

Lol.

BT hasn't been that bad in years.

Rarely have problems with pairing, and have about a dozen BT devices in my house.

Batteries and power are so much better today I worry less about charging BT devices than my phone.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

I wouldnt buy a phone without it. Currently on Pocophone M5, happy user

[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

I specifically bought a Pixel 5a because it was the last Pixel with a headphone jack. Then after a year, it died on me, and they sent me a 6a as a replacement.

I miss the jack. A lot. But it's hard to justify buying a whole new phone for one. Once this one dies, I don't know what I'll do.

[–] Canuck 7 points 7 months ago (2 children)

I exclusively use phones with headphone jacks. Using GNU/Linux mobile more to get longer software security updates where needed/possible. All GNU/Linux native phones have headphone jacks.

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[–] [email protected] 7 points 7 months ago

I was already using bluetooth headsets when they removed it so really didn't care.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (3 children)
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[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago (5 children)

I'm pretty happy with Pixels for the moment, so it's a $5 USB-C to 1/8" dongle for me. That or the Pixel Buds I got for free as as promo with the phone. I've never had to charge and use the converter at the same time, but I believe there are cheap dongles that can do that too.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

I gave up on it fairy easily, because after it was forced on us, the market also responded by flooding with cheap and decent options for headphones, which I started trying out and slowly I stopped using a wire with my phone.

I still think bluetooth is not great, with a lot of weird connection issues even on expensive devices, which was never a problem with a wire, but I do enjoy the freedom it offers.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

I have been pretty much exclusively using Bluetooth headsets for almost ten years and got my first phone without a jack this year. Sometimes you want to plug into someone's car or home stereo and can't, that's annoying. But other aspects are far more important in my buying decision.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago

Am using a Zenfone 8 with a jack. As for future upgrade, still unsure. My top priority would be the size - has to be the same or preferably smaller than the Zenfone, so that limits my potential options.

I was travelling recently and was fortunate to be able to watch a F1 race. The track had a FM broadcast of the commentary in English, and my Zenfone 8 with the built in FM tuner made itself very useful indeed, since the FM tuner only works with wired earphones.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 7 months ago* (last edited 7 months ago)

I'm still using it. I've got nice headphones and speakers that run off of a cable and no interest in top-end phones, so it makes sense to get a phone that fits the more expensive audio stuff rather than a bunch of adapters. Nokia's cheaper smartphones have served me quite nicely

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

as much as i like having a jack, i more value running grapheneos on a supported device :/

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

I honestly stopped caring a long time ago. I've been using bluetooth headphones exclusively since before the jacks started going away, and I'm just not bothered by it.

It would have been nice for them to stick around, but it's not really a hill I'm willing to die on.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

I've given up but I do wish there were better USB-C audio solutions. Android has always been lacking in the USB audio department and I have often been left feeling defeated when a car or other stereo system has USB audio input that only works with iPod/iPhone. It's just sad that even now with USB-C, audio output with Android is still so finicky.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 7 months ago

I only buy phone with a jack although I haven't needed a new phone in a long time.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago (3 children)

I bought the Zenfone 9, but now the new Zenfones don't have headphone jacks, so I don't know what phone to buy when I end up needing a new one. There seems to be no phones with headphone jacks that aren't huge, except for the budget phones

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

I always hated the noise you got from wired headphones every time you moved, so I was very happy as soon as wireless headphones stopped being terrible. Now I only use wireless so I really don't need a 3.5mm slot, and I can use an adapter on the off chance I do. Also I use GrapheneOS so it's not like I really have a choice!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

I buy mid-range devices, so while I haven't gone out of my way to get a device with a jack, my current device still has one, and it is the OnePlus Nord N200 5G, but if I did not have it, I would not be upset about it.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 7 months ago

My car only works with an aux cord so at least until I get a new car I'm sticking to phones with one. I'm not buying a dongle. They can go fuck themselves.

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